Teen Smoking Decline Slow But Progressing According to CDC

The CDC released their biannual study to measure teen smoking. According to the survey, which polled 10,000 high school students, 19.5% of them admitted to smoking in the past month. That’s down from 21.9% in 2003, but not as steep as a decline as previous surveys. The 2003 survey of 21.9% was down from 36.4% in 1997. The CDC data also reveals that 7.3% of teens are regular smokers, down from 9.7% in 2003. The CDC pointed out that the study only included high school aged students currently enrolled in school, which discounts 4% of teens in the age group.

The study shows that the teen smoking decline rates have tapered off in recent years. The CDC report says the slowing declines could indicate that more teens are developing an addiction to smoking, which could lead to numerous health problems in their later life. The report also mentions that the decline rate has slowed across all genders and races.

The CDC report also found that 46.3% of teens admitted to trying smoking at least once. That’s down from 58.4% in 2003 but is still approximately half of high school students. The CDC notes that the findings are discouraging given the steep declines in from 1997 to 2003. CDC Director Thomas Frieden notes the discouraging decline rates, and says much more needs to be done to reduce youth smoking. The CDC had a goal of reducing the rate of current smokers to 16%, and these results show that meeting that goal isn’t as close as they had hoped.